We heart art.

Many of you know that Noah and I have roots in the art world (if you consider graduating from art school, "the art world". While I don't think of ourselves as artists per se, we do dabble in creative activity.

It delights me to see my children being creative, and occasionally, I will be inspired to aide them in artistic pursuits. Then paint gets everywhere and I rue the day I brought acrylics and canvas into my house.

Case in point:







These paintings were for Grandmother Nanut's birthday back in March. It's a small miracle paint did not get on Kristin's dress. Daniel screamed, and got mad, and was generally disagreeable to the entire painting experience. But, in the end, Nanut got some sweet paintings, and I learned to never paint with a stubborn toddler.

It's a good thing we have a great art class that Isaac and Lauralyn attend. It keeps Mama sane.

Dry erase markers are much more my speed, although I have yet to find decent ones that also are washable. And washability is super important in the Haut house. Because certain Haut children love to draw on their clothing for some unexplainable reason.

Well, all that to leads up to the reveal of our new family portrait.



Jezebel is even in there... she's the scribble blob at the bottom.

She was so proud of her masterpiece. A Picasso in the making I tell ya.

More Changes

I guess the biggest change right now is our decision to not foster another baby at this point. There are a few exceptions to this decision, such as if Daniel's birth mom has another baby placed into foster care, or a low legal risk newborn needs placement, and we get called. (Low legal risk would be a case where it is unlikely for a long drawn out court process.)

Why the sudden change? My heart can't take it. Not my physical heart, but the part of my heart that loves without holding back, that sees my children get equally attached, and being protective their tender hearts. Protecting them from the possible great loss after a year or more of court and visits and drama. My kids need their mama to not be consumed by the stress of fostering.

Don't get me wrong. Fostering is AWESOME. It was worth every day we spent in court, every gut wrenching visit at DSS, every tear shed, every sleepless night. Daniel was meant to be in our family. We were called to foster him. To build a relationship with his birth family. To continue to minister to his birth grandmother and birth siblings.

And now we wait on God. He knows who the next Haut will be to join our family. He/she could be a birth sibling of Daniel's, or maybe a child we adopt straight out of foster care who is already legally free, or maybe we'll have another the old fashioned way. But, I truly believe our family is called to adopt. Noah agrees, and the big kids talk very favorably about adopting another child (even a young child who is not a baby).

So, for now we'll be updating our home study and working with our adoption social worker on finding a match. We'll keep a keen eye on our adoptuskids.org page that informs us of any children in the U.S. that may be a good fit for our family. We will be praying for God's guidance, and work on being content with the blessing of our 4 children.

And we will wait on God.

Notes from the Looney Bin.

Looking back through some of my photos, I realized some interesting occurrences happened which I overlooked sharing. Life is busy. What can I say?

There was that time, several weeks ago, that a feral cat (we have dubbed "Mama Cat") got into our house when the front door was left open. We had wandered over to Granny's front yard, along with Jezebel, and for some reason, two of the cats we feed decided to take a tour of the house.

When we came back into the house, Jezebel had fun chasing the terrified Mama Cat through the house. Chaos. I got Jezebel outside and Abby (the other cat who is not totally feral) meandered out the door. But poor Mama, in her flustered state, scaled our bedroom window and got onto the dresser. Panting, hissing, and very unhappy about her predicament.



I finally did get her out the front door, after chasing her out from under our bed.

On a side note, Daniel has a funny fear of cats. He calls cats "MEOW." We went to our neighbors house the other week, and when he saw their cat inside, he flipped out, screaming "MEOW!" and scrambling into my arms. Funny, considering he has no fear of dogs.

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A couple of months ago, we were buried in snow yet again, and Kristin managed to have a case of swimmer's ear. In the middle of winter. Swimmer's ear. Apparently, she got it from the bathtub.

So, Dr. Ben prescribed her two antibiotics over the phone to cover the bases, since he wasn't able to see her and verify the swimmer's ear (even though I was 99% sure it was...but I'm not the doctor).

This was her first prescription for any sort of antibiotic. Apparently she is allergic to amoxicillin. Can you tell?





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And since I missed posting Easter photos of the younger two... here you go.

Two Wheeler.

It's official. Lauralyn can ride a two wheeler, and she is pleased as punch.
Yesterday, Isaac asked if he could teach her how.
I got out his old bike, the one he learned to ride without training wheels (when he was 4).
And, sure enough, he taught her to ride.



Daddy came home, and helped too.



Slowly but surely, she got better.
And today, she can truly ride.
I can't believe it!





I meant to post about Kristin learning to ride the tricycle (finally).
She is also very proud to be a big kid.
Incredibly adorable, even if I am bias.
And, yes, she is in her pajamas in this photo. Cut me some slack, it was still morning.



And finally, there is a boy who wishes his legs were a bit longer.
He hates that his feet don't reach any pedals.



"Buh-bye, Mommy."

Cool.

Voyage to the Lone Star State #3 [by Noah]

We had church in the backyard. LL taught Sunday School and Isaac gave
the sermon (with some assistance).



After church we started Kransekake.
It is quite a task because you have to hand grind the almonds one at a
time so you don't clog the machine. It takes a long time, but well
worth the effort.



It wasn't long before Uncle Sage and Aunt Naomi
showed up bringing Baby M over to play with.



We feasted on a huge lunch prepared by Chef Grandfather and enjoyed the conversation.
Playing with Baby M was fun. I made him spit up on Nanut's rug and LL
changed a diaper.

Later that afternoon Isaac, grandfather and I went on a hike and the
girls stayed back to play with beads. LL loved the beads and we would
have been late for the plane on Monday if I didn't pry them from her.



Monday... journey home. Only a few meltdowns, but we made it in one piece and as
few tears as possible.

We had a great time and loved every minute of it.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I LOVE SPRING.



Who doesn't? Right?



After 8.5 year of living here... we have lots of perennials bursting forth in all their glory.
We didn't spend much over the years. Aside from sweat equity.



The azaleas we cut back and gave new life.
(Isaac butchered some this past winter, so there are not as many blooms as usual.)
Above, there are four varieties just waiting to blossom.
The clematis is my favorite.



The irises are AMAZING.
Three years ago, Mr. Jesse brought them down in a wheel barrow.
He dug them up from his yard because they were adding onto their house and he wanted them to have a new home.
Noah stuck the sad root bulb things in the ground... they barely bloomed the past two springs.
This year, there are at least 200 blooms. Maybe 300.

The phlox we spent maybe $10 on several years ago... it spread, and we transplanted.
What was three small phlox plants now cover our flower beds.
(It's the little pink flowers in two of the pics above.)



And finally, another shout out to Mr. Jesse.
He bought us 10 big flats of pansies when they went on clearance at Lowes.
They were 50¢ a flat.
Marked down from $12. WOW.

May the mosquitoes be few, and your flowers be lovely.
Thank God for spring!

Cha-cha-cha-changes. (warning: dull post)

WELL. I love planning ahead. It is how I function. While I have a hard time planning more than a year ahead (short term planner, unlike my mom who plans for 20 years in the future), I do strive to have my ducks in a row for the near future.

I have written about homeschool plans for this coming school year, and I have recently changed course. I am diving into SONLIGHT! I got a great deal off of ebay, and it looks like it is going to be fabulous. We will be using their history, science, and Bible, as well as the read-alouds (I read out loud) and readers (kids read). The lesson plans are based on teaching out of real books, not text books. I did not buy all the read-alouds and readers because let's face it, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on books that I can can get at the library. I'll probably have to buy a few the library doesn't have, but I can get them used on ebay.

The best part is I will be able to have Isaac and Lauralyn learning the same things! They will be using the Core K program, which is for ages 5-7. Sonlight makes their curriculum so it can be used at the same time by siblings close in age. It will simplify my work load, and I know my kids will learn a lot next year! Naturally math, reading and writing will be done on different levels, but honestly, Lauralyn may catch up to Isaac in reading next year. She is doing really well considering my inconsistency.

For extra curricular activities, I don't believe gymnastic or ballet will be in the budget. They have served their purpose this year, and Central Carolina Gymnastics graciously gave Lauralyn a scholarship when I decided to pull her out for budgeting reasons. For the coming year, I want to be able to enroll Kristin and Daniel in Tumble Tots two days a week for their morning program, which would allow for more quiet time for schooling. It would give them the structured play time, a gymnastics class, and preschool lesson that would be great for them, while I can concentrate on the older two without distractions every two minutes.

I haven't completely decided about art classes this coming year, however, I am leaning towards continuing. Lauralyn has expressed an interest in the Lexington Youth Theater as well, and so maybe she will "try out" for The Music Man come August. Isaac says he wants to play soccer in the fall since he is playing baseball this spring. So, we may have a busy school year despite dropping gymnastics and ballet. If Kristin and Lauralyn want to do ballet next summer, there is a local Christian dance program that is only during the summer months.

Naturally, I may change course 3 months down the road. We will end our school year at the end of May and take a break through the 4th of July. Then, we will dive into our new school year. Year round schooling will allow for longer breaks throughout the year. And, I don't want to spend a ton of time reviewing concepts that were forgotten over a long summer break.

To top it all off, we don't know when we will be placed with a new foster baby. Assuming that is what God has planned for us... for now we are enjoying our four kids becoming more independent. I could very well have Daniel out of diapers before we get placed with a baby! I admit I grow impatient at times, not knowing God's plan for our next child. It's hard for me to remember to enjoy the journey before the journey ends.

That's all for now. A boring update, I know. It's more for me to keep track of my homeschool progression than anything else. :-)

Voyage to the Lone Star State #2 [by Noah]

Saturday, we started out the day (after pineapple pancakes) with kayaking. LL
was unsure and Isaac wanted to go fast. After an hour of kayaking we
packed lunch and headed out to Lake Conroe. We played, fished, swam,
got sun burned and ate. Isaac and Grandfather fished for a while and
caught nothing.





LL then decided to show them how it was done and went
over and caught a fish right away. By the time I got over there with a
camera they had thrown it back. I was only there for less than a
minute and she caught another. She is quite the fishergirl. Isaac
ended up catching a couple, but LL's skills were no match for us.







I enjoyed teaching my sister how to catch a baseball. She calls it
"throwing it as fast as I could at her face", but I say if she has to
catch it, then she will. I hope she practices because that was a Tee
ball and I can throw faster. Maybe next time we can play for real.

We headed back after four hours which felt like eight from the sun and
had a lovely dinner and watched some basketball.

Voyage to the Lone Star State #1 [by Noah]

Thursday, we arrived in Houston with no delays and only slight drama when LL's
ears hurt on the way down. I got a laugh when Isaac went to ride the
escalator and almost went into a full split trying to get on. I
realized there aren't any around our town for him to be accustomed to
the art of stepping on an escalator.

We made it to the woodlands and made pizzas for dinner. Isaac wanted
to eat outside so we dinned surrounded by a sea of bluebonnets in
Grandfather's backyard. We finished our evening at one of the favorite
local play parks.



Friday started with pineapple pancakes and headed downtown to meet aunt Dewey and
go to the museums. We stopped by "the loft" (Nanut's and Grandfather's
place downtown) and ran into a real pirate (man with an eye patch).
Isaac and LL did not know what to think. Nanut and Grandfather told us
that he was their neighbor and I think this only fueled the mystery of
downtown Houston for the kids. On the way Isaac also had a short
scuffle with an alley pigeon, or nasty bird of some sort.



The kids were thrilled to see their Aunt Dewey and we headed to the
Children's Museum. There we met up with Aunt Naomi and my foster
nephew Baby M. It was so good to see Naomi well adjusted to her new
role as mommy. Baby M is easy-going and all smiles. We had a blast at
the outdoor water center at the museum. You can learn about currents,
waves waterflow, dams etc. and get wet in the Houston heat.





We went and changed into our swim suits at the loft and went to a park
a couple of blocks away. It was fun to watch the kids be overwhelmed
with so much to do. They played in the fountains, navigated a remote
controlled sail boat and played on the rubber mound at the play park.





It was then time to part ways with Naomi and Baby M and head back to
the Woodlands. I rode with Dewey and got to catch up with her and
enjoyed the conversation.

We had dinner, played Wii and enjoyed the company.

Single, with 2 toddlers.

Well, not really. But for 4 days, I got to play single mum to my two littlest. I was AMAZED at how easy it is to care for two kids. And how quiet my house was.

Noah took Isaac and Lauralyn to Texas for and extended Easter weekend to visit the Haut side of the family. (Noah will post about his experience in the near future.)

The weather was fantastic. Glorious warmth. Not too many bugs aside from the #&$@$% wasps and hornets that try to gain access to my home to torment me. I am allergic and hate pain, so I have a healthy fear of the beastly creatures. But I digress.

We had such a relaxing 4 days of outdoor fun. Lots of swinging on the tire swing. Going to both Grimes Park and Finch Park to play. Hanging out with Granny. During rest time and after bedtime, I was able to CLEAN OUT. I spent hours on wardrobe changing, which is so complicated. What to keep, what to get rid of... will Daniel actually where this shirt in 5 years? Is this skirt something I picture Kristin in next year? We are so BLESSED to have this problem. I am most excited about having my office/school room back to being semi-presentable. At least I don't want to cry every time I look in there now.

I took some photos of our fun on Friday. My editing program is on the fritz. Grrr. So, these are a little rough, but cute none the less.